Friday, April 20, 2012

Mi Casa, Su Casa!

I'm preparing for my House and Trees class in two weeks. I've got a slide show for my students, and I've got lists of all the quilts I want to bring to show them. This is a kitty quilt I made for Rusty. He's a Ginger boycat who lives in California. His owner is a second grade teacher and they live on Boston street.

I made the house using ruler fabric in brick red in this traditional New England style house for that reason (rulers = teacher; brick red = brick house; traditional = Boston). I don't know why I did it, but when I added a cat, instead of adding just one, I added four.

When Deborah received the quilt she was thrilled. Rusty claimed the quilt right away, which was nice to hear, but she went on... "From the first day we had him, we have called him Houdini Kitty. He can be with you and then poof he is upstairs looking down at you. To see all the extra Rustys in the windows and the yard is our Houdini Kitty!"

There are so many ways to make a house personal and special. I hope you've been watching Julie and her barns. She's done a spectacular job. She made 12 barns, each wonky and free pieced, but that wasn't all. She made the 12 barns to represent a month of the calendar AND she placed them in her part of the US. I had asked, "What does the sky and ground look like where you live? How would you use fabric to communicate the information about what time of the year it is?"

Julie took that challenge head on, and really did some thinking about how to convey the change in the seasons. You'll have to go back through her posts to see her thought process, but her results are awesome. This is her May barn, and I just love it.

Notice also that Julie has added some "signage" to each barn. It's another special touch that makes her barns truly unique.

Your own houses / barns don't have to be complicated to be very special and very interesting. It's the little things. You can do this too!

4 comments:

Houdini houses are definitely mystical. They also draw large crowds of tourists riding in buses and pointing. This one illustrates the projection of time...as our selves replicate in alternate universes. Which one is the real Rusty? Do you watch Fringe? Yep, the Fringe affect. Conversation piece for sure and charming one, too! Love the colors together!

Julie here -- I've been watching all you house builders for a long time, gleaning bits and pieces of ideas along the way. The barn project has been SUCH an adventure and SO much fun. Hope to have the flimsy ready for the big reveal this coming Monday.

Thanks, Lynne - for all your encouragement and for how you share so much of what you do with your blog readers.

Lynne,I just popped in to check my blogs and look what I saw! Rusty is usually on his quilt. He loves it and from minute one, he knew it was for him. I just showed him the screen! We feel fortunate that we have one of your originals.Deborah and Rusty

Who I Am

My name is Lynne Tyler and I live in New England in the USA. I've been sewing since 5th grade and making quilts since college. I love working with abstract shapes and color. I love strip piecing. I'm trained as an artist, and I love the graphic quality of quilts. I'd rather take the time to make something beautiful than buy something ugly. My companion is my tuxedo cat, Millie, who has her own blog at darlingmillie.blogspot.com.